Body Language Expert, Professional Speaker, Author, Media Authority, Spokes Person, Corporate Consultant, Trainer and Coach.
Patti speaks to Fortune 500 Companies, Associations, and Universities on: Body Language, Deception Detection, Selling, Interviewing, Public Speaking, First Impressions, Conflict Management and more.
She also consults with Law Enforcement and the Media on the Body Language of Celebrities, Politicians and Suspects.
Book Patti to speak at her website Patti@PattiWood.net

Recently a fire fighter on the scene of an accident used his cell phone to video tape the body of the victim, a young girl. How horrible.I just watched a Today show interview of the parents of the young girl who was killed in the car accident. Yes, a fireman here in Georgia took a video at the scene of the accident.The fireman took a video and sent it to friends. Besides the obvious horror of having someone taking a video of your deceased loved one and treating it like entertainment, what disturbed the parents was the casual tone of voice of the Emergency workers on the scene.The voices showed no urgency. Certainly the emergency workers had seen tragic accidents before, but where was the urgency to match the situation.I have written that when the nonverbal cues don't match the situation we feel uncomfortable. This horrible situation reminds us to have a sense of honor and respect.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp=39737492?A year ago

Uncover Deception.When you know details of a transgression that the suspect does not know you now look at their nonverbal response when you reveal details to them. An Innocent person would not get nervous when details about something they didn't do are revealed. Below is a powerful story from a workshop participant who saw this work. My guess, in the story described, is that the suspected thief had prepared for the big questions but when the questioner knew small specific details it tended to make the guilty person feel more exposed and nervous.

I was in a deception detection session with you this past summer. In October I went to a European country, I won't name, to look into allegations that our ---- was stealing from us. I took part in complicated interviews with the subject and our accountants that were largely conducted in his language because neither the ---our accountants were fluent enough in English to deal with such a stressful situation and get the meaning right. So my U.S. colleague and I were dependent on our watching skills more than our listening skills. At first I was unable to sense any change in tone, speed, or bodily position as the --- lied to us for about an hour. That is, until we got to questions where we had details. When the accountant started that line of questions, the --- broke out into a sweat that was visible on his face. Your speech helped me recognize the change. You said knowing details even seemingly small ones helps. And sure enough the details were part of a fairly minor transgression compared to the real theft!), I knew enough not to let go of that issue until we had proof that he had committed a crime.

Thanks for speaking to us. I had no idea I would be putting what I’d learned to use so quickly.